Yours in Mind
by VictorianSouffle
Summary: The 10th Doctor and Rose are in a tight spot. In order to safe Rose, the crew and not blow up the spaceship, he creates a mental link between him and Rose. Sharing thoughts, what could possibly go wrong? Will he learn her secrets, before she learns his? And of course, can they save the crew? First story, so feedback is welcome! Romance, Drama, and more to come! :-)
1. Chapter 1 - Mentally Linked

They were running through a long dark hallway, lights flickering, when he suddenly pushed her into the wall. "Oi!" she yelled, before being shushed. He pressed her firmer against the wall with his body covering hers, his lips only and inch from her ear. She swallowed hard, feeling his warm breath, but at the same time knew she had to do what as she was told if they wanted to survive this. 'Don't make a sound, don't move a muscle.. They only detect movement and..' he stopped. At first, she was still focused on the metal clashing that came from further down the hallway of the spaceship. Part of her was terrified, knowing that these creatures of metal and flesh would not hesitate and kill on sight. Well, on movement as the doctor claimed, but part of her wasn't sure of that. And clearly, being killed was not on top of her wish list now. But as they stood there, almost holding their breaths to stay as motionless as possible, her thoughts started wandering.

She stood pressed against the somewhat cold aluminium wall, facing it, with the Doctor pressed up against her. Shielding her, but at the same time making sure she would not move or do anything stupid ('-again' she could almost hear him say). And he succeeded well at that, as she could not move an inch. He even held her hands with his, making sure not a finger could betray their presence. _As if I can't stand still when told to._ She thought to herself, a little offended. _Actually, I'm quite sure you can't. And since neither of us want to end up in a pile of corpses, we'll have to make some sacrifices like personal space and good manners._ Wait.. What? _Are you.. reading my mind?_

She could hear him laughing in her mind. _Something like that yes, only mind reading is a cheap trick for carnival imposters and I simply create a mental link. _

She roller her eyes. _You know, that could count as a movement. And if they should discover us now "I will blame you." He sat there in the tall grass, staring over the fields in front of them and took a deep breath. "I keep forgetting how refreshing a free moment in one's head can be." He turned slightly and gestured her to come sit with him. _

_"So, now what do we do?" She asked as she sat down beside him. He smirked and laid back into the grass, staring at the clouds. 'We wait.' She thought it would be something like that. 'Then why do you ask?'_  
_"Could you stop doing that?" 'I could.. but rather having you cross with me than both of us dead, eh?' He had a point. 'And it's a bloody good one I'll tell you. And NO- no slapping, thank you very much. You know-' He sat up again and turned towards her, pointing his finger at her. '-I 'am saving your life here!'_

In what seemed a flash, she felt the cold wall again and heard the metal clashing and screams from down the corridor. They were so close, but he was closer. As she smelled him and felt his warmth, she realised just how much closer he was. 'I could just run away now and leave you, you know.' He hissed in her ear, a tad amused at her reaction. She nearly jumped, feeling caught, but couldn't as he was still holding her. 'Now, please try to move one finger if you want me to run and leave, or two if you want to love.' She immediately tried to move two fingers.

_-*- inside the mind link again -*-_

'To love?' When he looked at her, she sat down on a stone bench, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. "To love? I didn't say that, don't be ridiculous! To live, you freudian orientated earth female thing you." 'Oh, look who's talking, alien boy!' His pace sped up as he walked away past the roses in this old Victorian garden they had landed in. "Technically, we're not talking! You see, our minds are now fully connected and you are-" '-Inside your head. I know. I can read your thoughts as well.'  
The doctor now started pacing as he did more often when he was about to figure something out. "But what I don't get is- Wait, what was that thought?" He stopped and his head shot up at her. He then came rushing towards her, grabbing her arm as she was trying to shield him off. She stepped back in surprise wondering what she had thought about and whether she wanted him to know or not. "No, no, no, no, you're not blocking this one, this was quite- interesting. And what do you earthlings have with smells? When I smell nice, that's a good thing, right?" Her eyes widened and she held her breath as he was standing right in front of her, holding her wrist tightly and his gaze searching her for a reaction or explanation.

'Your hurting me!' Her reaction broke the moment and he quickly let go of her. "Sorry, I was just- nevermind." He turned away from her and started pacing up and down again, this time in the Tardis. 'Wait- are we in the Tardis, did your mind create the Tardis or are you also connected to it?' "To her. And yes." He snapped. "Yes, I am connected to her and if you wouldn't mind, I am trying to figure out how to save us and not blow up a spaceship for once.." Shaking her head, she turned away from him and looked around the control room of the Tardis. He was muttering things and theories under his breath again, obviously distracted. Slowly she walked up to the control panel and tried to make sence of the levers. Much to her surprise, she actually understood some of the writing that was on the panel. She frowned and looked up to find some more writing. And there it was, on one of the walls. More writing. She remembered it, but not readable. More like circles and lines and dots, and more circles. 'Did you write all this..?' She whispered as she proceeded to walk to the writing. With her hand, she tried to touch the words, trying to make sence of what it was and who- "Stop. Now."

It wasn't a question, but a demand. Her heart nearly stopped as she was being pulled away from the word written wall. Now facing him, his nose almost touching her nose. His arm wrapped around her waist tightly as if he was afraid she would run away. His expression was a mixture of anger and fear. Had she discovered something?

After what seemed like forever, he continued in an almost deathly whisper. "You are in a Time Lords mind. You have no idea how dangerous it is to go wandering off on your own. There are secrets here that are best kept secret, unless you were aiming to get the world blown apart or something." He ended on a lighter note. Then let go of her. She felt light-headed and had to keep herself from falling over, both from a near heart attack as from- well him being him, basically. "Right, now, if we wait for them to leave, we can sneak back up to the main engine room and shut the power of! That way, their communication aaaand movement-sensors are down and we should be able to rescue the crew!" Not waiting for her to answer, he turned and continued. "Alright then, Alonsy!"

And walked of towards the door. The Tardis softly hummed and buzzed. 'No, I do not fancy him. What would you know, you're just-' Before she could finish, a trap door opened underneath her, making her stumble forwards and falling down the stairs. The doctor popped his head around the door with a smile and a wink. "She heard that, you know. Mental. Link. Me too by the way.." And he was gone again.


	2. Chapter 2 - Boxed

Thank you all for the follows, likes, favs en reviews! I'm so happy you all like it :-)

I will try and keep your review in mind melzdog123 and make things more clear. It is quite difficult though, hahaha! Any tips/suggestions/critique and comments are welcome! :-)

Ok, so the Italic parts are thoughts. And the first part is all in the Mind Link, only the Doctor is "outside" the link. On y va!

- Chapter two; Boxed -

She slowly got up on her feet again and walked towards the door, ignoring her sore ankle and trying hard not to think of any more thoughts were answered by some more buzzing and a rattling noise.

'I'm pretty sure that was an insult.'  
Another rattle.

Repressing the urge of getting into a discussion with a _machine, _she opened the door.  
Her mouth tried to form words that could describe the thoughts in her head, as she saw absolutely nothing. There was nothing behind the door. No grass, clouds and no Doctor.

'But-what?' she finally managed in a bewildered voice. She immediately turned towards the Tardis, who was by now laughing at her.

'is this your idea of a joke? Cause a joke is supposed to be funny and this is not funny at all! Now let me out or I'll-!'  
The Tardis hummed teasingly, daring her to come up with a good one.

'I'll-'

She was trying to think of something and then smiled devilishly as if she had just hit the Vegas jackpot. 'I saw that.' She told the Tardis. 'Let me out, or I'll kiss him right in front of your panel! Yeah, that's right!' She crossed her arms confidently. The Tardis crackled upset and protested. Rose kept smiling as she walked towards the control panel again. With her finger she traced one of the levers.

'You are a jealous little time box, aren't you.' She teased and flipped the lever, knowing nothing would happen.  
_"When you girls are done fighting over me, I could really use some help here._" A familiar voice boomed through the room_.  
_Rose froze for a second, then slowly shook her head and reminded herself about the mind link.

_"Oh, don't be embarrassed, you will get used to it. Rembrandt once forgot about it and I ended up with the Nightwatch in my head. Had to sit still for days before he finally had everything sketched out on real paper. Great guy though, lovely sense of humor!"_

She smiled. _Not only Rembrandt.._

The Tardis door swung open and she walked out, keeping her eyes open for any more jokes by the clever blue box. Making it out in one piece, she took one look back, stuck out her tongue and received a slamming door against her backside. "Oi!"

* * *

Outside the Mind Link

* * *

The hallway had gone dark and only a few sparks made by an electronic shortage occasionally lit the area.

Carefully, the Doctor leaned forward to have a look around a corner, before jumping and turning around in surprise at the sound of her voice.

'Are they gone?'

He restored his composure quickly and dramatically grabbed his chest.  
"Not gone, just waiting for our next move. And please, for the sake of my two hearts, we're linked like a.. Like a radio transceiver. Next time warn me if you're close!"  
She smiled and shrugged.  
'I thought it would be more like a radar..'  
Two hands frantically waving in front of her, motioning her to shut up kept her from finishing her sentence.  
There was a strange clicking sound, very close by.

_Not good! he thought.  
_He spun on his heels and pushed her in her back to motion her to start running.

'What? What's not good?' she tried asking while slowing him down.

"Will you just start running please? The normal drill, bad things on their way and us running away. Now. Please."

Without a warning, lasers started firing around them, occasionally hitting a wall or blowing up a pipe or two.  
_  
Now we're dead! I knew he was trouble, I knew it! she frantically thought, well, screamed in her mind while dodging as well as_ possible.

'We're not gonna die if you don't just start running like you always do!' He bit her, gasping for breath and still pushing her forwards.

At that point, she almost stopped to look down. She wasn't running full speed, because-  
_  
Your ankle really hurts! Now move!_ He grabbed her without a warning and threw her over his shoulder all the while still running.  
She was now facing these horrible creatures, metal but fleshy at parts.  
Like an old knight armor, but take away the shine, and add human parts like an engineers arm and a captains head sticking out on original places like on his chest and upper leg.

_Frankenstein gone wrong, those poor people.. She thought to herself. _


	3. Chapter 3 - The Engine room

Again, thank you so much for following! I know it took a while to update, but I had some crazy days, including walking around the Zoo in Antwerpen (Belgium) dressed up (Belle Époque picnic group of 20 ladies and gents) for their 170 year anniversary. It was awesome!

Anyhow, on with the story!

* * *

-flashback-

She was now facing these horrible creatures, metal but fleshy at parts.  
Like an old knight armor, but take away the shine, and add human parts like an engineers arm and a captains head sticking out on original places like on his chest and upper leg.

_Frankenstein gone wrong, those poor people.. She thought to herself._

_-end flashback-_

* * *

_Frankenstein gone wrong indeed, but I will spare you the details._

Rose still couldn't get used to hearing his voice inside her mind.

_Maybe you're in my head, not yours, but that's not the point now. Are they still behind us?_

"No, I think we've lost them." she answered and was suddenly back on her own two feet.

'I really can't thank you enough for working out..' The Doctor panted as he sat down on the floor and let his head rest against the cold metal wall.  
Her eyes grew big and she smacked him against the back of his head.  
"Oi! What did I do?!" He exclaimed.  
As his only answer was a glare, he recalled thinking something about Jackie's condition and, yes, well.. He probably deserved that.

They both nearly jumped as a door next to them suddenly opened.  
Walking slowly through the newly opened doorway, the Doctor started to grin.  
"This is it Rose! This is the Engine room!"

He paced up and down past the many controls and machinery, letting his finger almost cares the buttons as he went by them.  
Though he was deeply sunken in thought, Rose could not make any sense of it. Almost as if his thoughts were humming, buzzing deliberately to distract her.  
_It could also be the Tardis again.. _she pondered.

It worked though, cause she gave up and simply stared at the tall man she had grown to like a lot.

_A whole lot.._ she admitted to herself.

He turned around, cried out eureka and did a little happy dance.  
"I've got the solution! It will solve even more than I had thought!"

_Puzzling, as always.._

He locked the engine room door with his Sonic Screwdriver and sat down in the middle of the engine room.  
From there, he pointed the Sonic at one of the machines, the one that was somewhat darker than the other two and seemed to glow at the same time.  
How that was possible, she did not know and didn't even wonder anymore. Probably something involving rotation of the device, reflections and swamp gasses or something similar.

"That one is the main power source." He explained. "If I shut that down, the crew will have enough time and chances to escape."  
'Than what are you waiting for?' Rose smiled. 'Go on! Save the day, so we can get ourselves a sunset somewhere or go to a fly in movie-'  
She stopped. He was blocking her thoughts and showing her what was going to happen.

_As he pointed his Sonic at the device and closed it down, an electric shock hit his body. The room lit up on impact and went completely dark afterwards.  
She couldn't see him, hear him or anything. After what seemed like eternity, the emergency lighting started flickering on and off. Showing little of the room, but enough to see a lifeless figure on the ground in front of her. "Noooo!" She screamed._

As she snapped back to reality, she saw him raising his hand and a bright flash blinded her.  
After that, everything went dark.

* * *

Well, that escalated quickly, didn't it? :-)  
Stay tuned as the next chapter will be published tonight!


	4. Chapter 4 - Inside the Doctors Mind

The smell of burned metal was in the air.  
The room had become very warm and the darkness was weighing heavy on her.  
She crawled across the floor, not being able to see where she was going but desperate to find him.  
As the emergency lighting started to flicker as predicted, she saw him.  
He was not far from her, not showing any signs of life.  
'Please..' she whispered.

On her lips, she could taste saltness of her own tears that were now rolling down her burning cheeks.  
She took his hand in hers and caressed it.

'Please, no..' she whispered again and leaned forward.  
With her ear to his chest, she tried to discover a heartbeat or two.  
At first, she heard nothing, but then a soft sound of a single beat greeted her longing ears.  
After that, a second, and a third, but still weekly and distant.

Her own heart broke at the sight of him and cried. And so did she, begging him to wake up.

She sat there and waited. Waited for help or for him to wake up. Anything.

But nothing happened.

Nothing.

She didn't know how long she sat there, his hand captured in hers.  
The tears on her cheeks were almost dried up and she felt as if she had none left.

She knew she had to figure something out.  
She had to do something, cause there would not be any help arriving anytime soon.

If at all.

And, as sudden as the lighting had struck the man she loved so dear, an idea formed inside her mind.  
He had created a doorway, and she had walked through his mind and thoughts.

And she could do it again.

Carefully, she sat down on top of him, one leg on each side.  
A small blush on her still hot cheeks, she placed her hands on each side of his face and slowly traced one cheek with her thumb.

'Please help me..'

She than closed her eyes and leaned forwards, foreheads touching and searched all of her mind and being for a connection.

* * *

_"You are in a Time Lords mind. You have no idea how dangerous it is to go wandering off on your own. There are secrets here that are best kept secret.."  
- The 10th Doctor, Yours in Mind, chapter 1 -_

Inside the Doctors mind

* * *

Her eyes shot open and took in the surroundings.  
A long hallway, grey vintage wallpaper and more doors than she had ever seen together.  
The floor was covered with a carpet in a dark shade of red.  
The doors all had a sign, but none of them made sense to her.  
There were dark wooden stairs, some normal and some curling along a wall, seemingly going nowhere.  
She could not comprehend the amount of detail she saw.  
Gold woven figures through the carpet, different patterns carved into the wooden doors.  
Paintings in colors she didn't know existed.

And there was a constant soft humming, almost singing noise.  
She tried to ignore it as she became aware it was causing her a slight headache.

'Now, where to start..'

She still wasn't sure how she was going to find him and if she could find him in this strange place.  
But she had to try.

_Besides_, she thought, _his mind was definitely the most fascinating place she had been so far.._

She kept looking at every single door she passed, wondering what the strange signs were for.  
It was not as if they made any sense. Not to her anyway.  
Some were scribbles, some were signs. Others had a drawing on them as if made by a little child.

As her curiosity slowly got the best of her, she felt herself leaving the middle of the hallway.  
Her hand moved forwards to the doorknob of a strange-looking door. It was wood, but there were some little pieces of stone sticking out.  
On the sign in front of her, there was a pair of eyes.

Rose stared at them and slowly took a step to the left. The eyes kept looking at her. She then stepped back to her original spot and took another step to the right.  
They still followed. puzzled by this, she decided to take a look inside and slowly turned the knob.

The door opened and at first, al she saw was darkness inside.  
She blinked a couple of times, to let her eyes get used to the dark and when she opened them again after her last blink, she froze in shock.  
There was a stone nose, but an inch away from the tip of her own nose. A pair of stone eyes staring into hers.

_Don't._ _Blink._


	5. Chapter 5 - Weeping Angels

Alright, sorry for the delay! I had to think this one over for a bit, and with a few adjustments, it is now ready :-)  
The next chapter, and sorry again for the cliffhangers!

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Weeping Angels**

There was a cold, wet fogginess coming from the stone, together with an intense smell as if it had waited in a swamp.

'I know who you are..' Rose whispered and swallowed as her mouth had become very dry.  
She didn't know how she knew, but somehow her head filled with stories about them.  
Flashes of an old abandoned house, Manhattan, the statue of liberty and more, filled her head until she felt it would explode.

'The Doctor told me about you. You're a Weeping Angel.'  
Trembling in fear, she well knew this would be the end of her.  
She had never been good at staring contests and knew the next time she'd blink, the Angel would get her.

'I've heard stories about you, and about what you do. I'm not scared of you.' Her voice broke a little, as she knew she was bluffing.  
Remembering her mission to save the Doctor, she knew she had to escape this being somehow. But how?  
Her eyes grew big when the Angels mouth opened and it seemed to whisper to her.  
'W-what?' was her shocked reply.  
"Mirror.. mirror.. on the wall.." The ancient stone voice had the sound of breaking stone, falling sand and flowing rivers at the same time.  
Rose did not even understand how she could make out the words she had just heard.  
Her head ached again, a deep pain that went as quickly as it came.  
"..Who's.. the fairest.. of us all?"  
Without breaking eye contact, Rose suddenly became aware of an army of eyes staring at her from the darkness behind the door.  
Her stomach did a backflip.

Never breaking contact with the staring stone eyes, she took a step backwards.  
And another one. Untill her back was almost against the wall.  
With one hand, she reached behind her, remembering the hallway was full with ornaments and details.

As her fingers found the smooth surface she was looking for, she nearly let her gaze slip down.  
She gasped as she thought she had seen movement from her stone companions and immediately focused on the gaze from the Angels again.

_Mirror, Mirror on the wall.._ she recalled the words she had just heard whispered by stone lips.

All the Angels eyes focussed on her. Her breathing became more heavily as her mind tried to get a grip on what she was going to do next.  
But she didn't know.  
Tears formed in her eyes, from both fear and the dryness from the staring contest.  
She found that she became calm, as if she had accepted her faith.

Her body stopped shaking and with a last deep breath, she let her knees give way and closed her eyes.

* * *

On her knees for what seemed forever, she waited for the end.  
Keeping her eyes firmly shut, she slowly concluded that the end should not take this long.  
Maybe they were consulting in what way to finish her?  
Peeking through her lashes she tried to see what horrible scene was taking place in front of her.  
But much to her surprise, they stood frozen.

She rolled away from the mirror she had led them to and slowly climbed on her feet again.  
'Why aren't you..' She began, '..oh..'  
Standing where she was, next to the Angel in the front, she could now see what was going on. The Angels could all see each other in a mirror.

The wall she had backed into, had a large mirror hanging on it that she did not remember from before.  
It was heavily decorated with flowers she didn't know from earth, and the surface was almost liquid so pure and silvery reflecting all their images.

But there was more.

As she looked in the mirror, she saw beautiful colors and sparkles, glistening and floating around a calm lake, surrounded by rocks and metal. And trees, standing in the shades, only visible when the wind makes their branches move ever so slightly.  
_It's as if all elements are represented_ and as she thought that, she realised she was looking at the Wheeping Angels in their original Alien form.

They were like minerals and elements, but also specks of dust and those little floaties in your eyes that always disappear when you try to look at them.  
More than that. They were beautiful.

_The doctor must have been on their planet once, _she thought.  
_But how did they ever make it to earth, unless.. _  
She tried to stop herself from finishing her thoughts, but her mind seemed to have a mind of its own.

_A man with a colorful scarf walked besides the lake in the mirror. He smiled and seemed to be enjoying himself, merely strolling around the strange place.  
He didn't seem to notice collecting a few sparkles and little dusts on his coat, hat and scarf, and slowly walked out of the scene._

With a shock, she regained control over her mind and body. She was still in the hallway, but the mirror, the angels and the stone decorated door were gone..


	6. Chapter 6 - The Endless Stairs

As Rose wandered through an endless amount of hallways, she began to wonder if she would ever find the Doctor.  
She wanted to find him, with all her heart, but somehow it seemed impossible in this maze of doors, stairs and corridors.

_I can't give up on him now. _She reminded herself on the many times he had been there for here.  
After her last encounter with the occupants of the Doctors mind, she had stayed away from the doors.  
Curiosity killed the cat, her mother Jackie always said.  
_Rather the cat then me.._ Roe thought.

Reaching another corridor, she saw a beautiful mahogany stair this time.

It seemed to reach to infinity and beyond, since she could not see the end of it.

"Why do you love this old style so much? What's wrong with an elevator?"  
Rose smiled slightly as she caught herself talking to the Doctor.

_Maybe he does hear me. I am inside his head, so who knows.._

"Doctor? Doctor, where are you?"  
'Why are you looking for the Doctor, strange girl?'

Rose spun on her heels towards the voice and took on a Kung-fu position as she had seen in those late friday night movies once.  
There was an old man in a tweed waistcoat, with a black tie and a pair of Charlie Chaplin like pants.  
He stared at her, raising an eyebrow.

'What do you think you're doing? You're even more strange than I primary thought.'  
The man stated, gesturing towards her with a pocket watch in his hand.  
Rose felt embarrassed and felt her cheeks color.  
"I- eh- felt like dancing, because I finally found someone?"

The elderly man now frowned and mumbled something about lunatics.  
"Please?" Rose asked. "Do you know where the Doctor is?"

'Why do you want to see him? What business does he have with you?' the frown never left his face and it was almost as if he was trying to see right through her.  
"You know where he is than? Please, it is a matter of life and death!"  
Rose felt very uncomfortable using those words, life and death, but deep in her heart knew it was true.

'Very well,' he finally said in a loud voice.  
'I will take you to the Doctor,-' Rose heart jumped in relief. '-If you can answer all of my questions correctly.'  
And it sunk again into despair.  
"What kind of questions? Wasn't I clear that it is important?! You old coot, this isn't a game you know!"  
The man laughed and shook his head at her impatience.  
Rose was now nearly boiling with anger, but decided that it was best for the Doctor is she stayed calm and gave it a shot.

"Alright, give me the damn questions and I will answer them." She bit, holding back some more insults.  
With a soft pace, he walked towards the stairs and began to climb them.  
Then, when he was a good twenty stairs up, beckoned her to follow him.  
She felt her anger rise again, but followed without a word.

* * *

'My first question is, what brings you here?'  
"Well, the Doctor of course. I have to find him."  
He nodded and continued.

'So then, Miss Tyler.. Could you describe your relationship with the Doctor.'  
His silvery grey hairs seemed glued as they never moved an inch.  
He walked a few steps in front of her, a steady slow pace, with his hands resting behind his back.  
"That is rather a personal question, but basically we travel together, find danger, then run and save the day."

Clearly amused by the answer, the man laughed out loud.  
Rose noticed he had quite a pace for his age and had a difficult time keeping up with him.  
'And you are sure it isn't more than that?'  
Fighting the blood that was rushing to her cheeks again, she shook her head.  
Now the man stopped and turned to face her.  
'Are you very sure?' he asked again.  
Rose felt uncomfortable again, but was determined not to talk about her private life to the first random stranger she ran into inside the Doctors mind.  
Even though this stranger seemed familiar.

Turning again suddenly, the man continued his way up the endless stairs and sped up even more, or so it seemed.  
She tried to keep up with him, but found it more and more difficult and soon the distance between them grew.  
Rose stopped a second to look down, but couldn't see the floor anymore.  
And the further they went up, were there was still no sign of the end of the stairs, the darker it became.  
"Could you slow down please?" She finally asked.  
By now, she could only see a vague, dark figure walking way ahead in front of her.  
"Sir?" She called again. But there was no response.


	7. Chapter 7 - One kiss

She was caught of guard by a sudden fogginess and tried to wave it away with her hands.  
Realising this was quite impossible, she searched for the guard rail, but it wasn't there.

The fog was drying her eyes and she kept her hands in front of them to protect them.  
When she realised she wasn't walking stairs anymore, but some sort of carpet, she finally opened her eyes again.  
_Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore.. _was her first thought as her eyes scanned the room.

Royal deep red colors, satin, curtains, tassels and gold.  
She stared at the riches around her, somehow they seemed familiar.  
Turning slowly, she saw a brilliant fireplace and realisation hit her.

_This is the fireplace the Doctor travelled through when we were in that old spaceship.  
_She also remembered the human parts they had seen _and _smelled_, _together with the clockwork robots.  
And of course, she remembered _her._

Rose saw the back of a cream coloured dress, with blond hair in a difficult but beautiful up do.  
Madam de Pompadour.  
And she saw him. Her Doctor.

They were standing close, their noses almost touching. And then, without a warning, they kissed.  
Not a simple kiss, but a full mouth and tongue included snog.

Before Rose could even recover from what she had just seen, the scene faded into an office, where her Doctor was now kissing the next woman.  
A dark-haired woman in a white lab coat, fading into a somewhat older red-head on a party of some sort.  
Rose felt as if she was on a carnival ride, being thrown back and forth in history and flashbacks.  
Now there was a black-haired woman in a bus that was kissing him, next some ghost woman, and there were more.  
Rose's heart broke into a million pieces, scattered all over the universe.

She fell on her knees as the flashbacks continued, like a knife cutting deeper and deeper in her soul.  
Her head was nearly exploding from a terrible headache and the emotional pain she was feeling.  
She wanted it to stop, pleaded for it to stop for she could not take it anymore.  
With tears running down her cheeks, she realized this was even worse than seeing her Doctor die.  
Much worse.

And she nearly wished him dead.

_Rather dead then not mine.._

"No." She whispered. "No, that thought is not mine.. I will never wish him dead, even if he will never be mine.."

She closed her eyes and held her head, pounding from all the imput it just had.  
And darkness surrounded her.

* * *

'Well, are you coming?'

Rose opened her eyes and blinked. Her eyes were still hazy from her tears, so she blinked a couple of times.  
The elderly man was looking down at her, his face serious.  
'Well? If it's life and death, we can't have you lying around here like that, can we? Chop chop, on your feet and on your way.'

He turned and continued his way up, leaving her heartbroken and in pain on the floor.

She gathered all her inner strength to get up and once more climb the endless stairs that seemed to go nowhere.  
"Please," She pleaded once more. "Where are we going?"

'Do you want to save him or not?' He returned the question.  
She nodded twice softly, then let her head hang, still pounding and heavy from all that had happened.  
'Then follow me. And answer my questions. Since you are traveling with him, how well do you know him?'  
Slowly looking up at the man, she frowned.  
"I know him quite well.. a bit well.. I don't know.. I think.. really.." Her voice wavered as she realized she knew nothing of the Doctor.  
Not his favorite color, or food. She knew little about his childhood, or where he came from. Only what she had heard when the Master became a thread.

'Hmm. And here I was, thinking you might be a special one..' The man grumbled.

Rose felt lost and alone. She wanted to save the Doctor, but felt blinded and hurt by what she had seen.  
Why should she safe him?  
She heard what the man said, she wasn't special,  
_not to him and not to the Doctor._

_Just the next companion to fall head over heals and be left in the cold for another pretty head._


	8. Chapter 8 - The top of the Stairs

Oh wow, I am so proud! Welcome all new followers, please feel free to comment!  
I would love to hear from you and learn!

Sorry it's been a while, but I've been quite busy with my work, catching up on assignments.  
Here's the first chapter for you, I will add a second later on, so lets begin shall we?

* * *

-Chapter 8, The top of the Stairs-

* * *

As she dragged herself up another step of the endless stair, she realized hope was gone.

_She wasn't special._

Just an ordinary London girl without a job and living with her mother.

With an awful lot of pain, she raised her head and tried to see how high the stairs were again.  
And to see if the end of it was still far, if there was an ending at all.

'Don't be ridiculous, every story and everything has an end.'  
The elderly man grabbed her by her arm.  
With his other hand he reached out and turned her head towards him.

He studied her face and she felt his gaze almost pierce though her mind.  
Her eyes seemed dull and unfocused he noticed, and all the color on her cheeks was gone.  
His eyebrows lowered as he squinted his eyes and then his head shot back up to where they were heading.

'You must follow me quickly Rose. We have no time to waste.'

She didn't even notice that this was the first time the man wasn't being grumpy and actually seemed to care.  
He guided her further up the stairs, his face now with a worried expression.

He knew what was waiting for her further along the path..

* * *

After a long time of following him, Rose noticed her head slowly recovering from the pounding and what not.  
It still wasn't gone, but at least she could hear herself think again.  
And her mind was no clear enough to notice the elderly man escorting her now instead of racing her to the top.

'Come one, a few more steps and you're on your own again.' he muttered, as if he had read her thoughts.  
Unseen to Rose, he rolled his eyes and shook his head.  
She was now staring and smiling at a very welcome sight.

The last step of the stair.

And nothing.

Her smile dropped as soon as it appeared.

There was absolutely nothing after the last step.

They stood there, the old man and Rose. Watching the nothing in front of them.  
'Well.. Are you going to take the last step or were you planning on going down again?'

She swallowed hard, all the steps she had taken went through her thoughts once again, combined with pieces of flashbacks.  
The man stopped Rose again, as she lifted her foot to take the step.  
He was now right in front of her, and Rose wondered how he had moved there without her noticing any movement from him.

'A word of caution.' He near whispered, his voice more serious than it even had been up to that point.

'What you will find after this step, is a place no human or other creature has ever witnessed. It is as grand as it is dangerous.'  
His face closed in on her, his nose now barely touching hers and she could feel his breath with every word he spoke.  
It gave her chills and normally in the Tube she would have , but she couldn't look away.

_Those eyes._

'It is the very being of the Doctor himself. His life. His energy. Like the heart of a Tardis, incomprehensible to simple beings as yourself.'

_She recognized those eyes._

'Your energy is but an atom for his. Once you've made this step, you must walk and continue walking until you find him.'

_But- it couldn't be.. Could it?_

'If you stop or get distracted by anything, you will disappear, evaporate and vanish into nothingness. You will become part of him and his, for ever.'

He took a step backwards, onto the last step. Then another one, into the nothing.  
As if to prove what he had just explained, he never stopped staring at her and she could only return the stare with an open mouth.

He stood there, and smiled at her for the first time.  
'Good luck Rose. You're my only hope now.'

Then, he vanished.

Like smoke from a cigarette, when you follow it up until it's gone into nothing.

Her mouth closed in surprise.  
Her newly found courage as she had recognized the Doctor, disappeared into the nothingness together with the elderly man.


End file.
